Are You Still A Tourist In Canada?

Jeff

You’ve been in Canada for so long and you think you’ve finally adapted to the Canadian way of living. But for some reason, you feel as if you’re still a tourist and your friends still look at you with amused expressions whenever you do or say something. Here are some reasons why you still stick out like a sore thumb in Canada.

You love the weather.

While the locals are cursing their luck and frantically checking the weather forecast for better news after the announcement of a snowfall warning, you’re rejoicing like a five-year-old. You love the thought of more snow coming your way and even when the temperatures are well below zero, you remain excited.

You don’t get the national sport.

You’re aware that hockey is one of Canada’s biggest obsessions, but for the life of you, you don’t get what’s good about it. You’ve watch a few games several times. Unfortunately, the sight of grown men going at it with hockey sticks and sometimes swiftly stripping down their sports gear to beat each other with their bare fists still make you cringe.

You believe in bilingualism.

When you first arrived, you think how awesome it is for you to be able to brush up on your French language skills. To your dismay, you’ve found out later on that not all Canadians speak French. But for some reason, this doesn’t curb your linguistic enthusiasm. You keep on speaking French to everyone who should be able to: mail carriers, flight attendants, and even servers at Tim Horton’s.

You don’t know what’s happening up North.

You still think that the northern part of the country is filled with pristine lakes and covered by acres and acres of forests. You’ve never heard of Fort McMurray and some of your Canadian friends are keen on keeping you in the dark. After all, the Canadian North is a hub for oil and natural gas extraction, which turns boreal forests and indigenous territories in to polluted wastelands.

You’re still afraid of the local wildlife.

Despite staying in Canada for so long, you still cannot wrap your head around the thought that the locals don’t care if there are bears, cougars, black widows, and wolverines roaming about.

You’re still in love with Canada.

Hockey, environmental disasters, and wild animals can’t stop you from loving Canada as much as you can. Despite being in Canada for several months or years, you still look at everything around you with awe and wonder, like you’re seeing them for the first time.